You know, TNA had a great chance to reel me in. Jericho's gone for months, Smackdown's in limbo, and I'm down on the WWE in general... and of course, they piss it all away by putting the title on Triple J again. Would it have been so difficult to just let things be as they are?

Only happy development from this is that AMW FINALLY turned heel after months of subtle build... of course, that means the Naturals aren't long for the belts, but that's fine since AMW is eons better than that guitar swinging, self-centered loser.

Man, I haven't been watching much WWE lately so I was looking forward to TNA's debut on Spike TV. And then they go and pull this little stunt. Well, it's just as easy to say "fuck you" to TNA as it was to say to it WWE. In fact it's a lot easier. I can't believe Jarrett pulled the same stunt yet again.

BCW announcer Scotty Kage is a regular poster at wrestlingfigs.com, and after the event last night, explained why Jarrett got the belt again:

"Spike TV executives are the ones who wanted AJ and JJ as the champs when Impact starts October 1. Those 2 guys tested well with audiences and as much as everyone hates it, it is a business that needs the National TV and when they tell you to jump, you say how high? Besides, for all those who think Jeff isn't over and is overrated. he got a huge pop tonight when he came out and the Toys R Us here in town is sold out of Jeff Jarrett action figures while Raven hangs plentifully."

Originally posted by XPacArmyFrom the NWA message board (don't know if its 100% true or not):

BCW announcer Scotty Kage is a regular poster at wrestlingfigs.com, and after the event last night, explained why Jarrett got the belt again:

"Spike TV executives are the ones who wanted AJ and JJ as the champs when Impact starts October 1. Those 2 guys tested well with audiences and as much as everyone hates it, it is a business that needs the National TV and when they tell you to jump, you say how high? Besides, for all those who think Jeff isn't over and is overrated. he got a huge pop tonight when he came out and the Toys R Us here in town is sold out of Jeff Jarrett action figures while Raven hangs plentifully."

Is it worth getting a TV deal if the network tells you who should be champ? And should we suspect this is another version fo the ECW/Network or SD/Network angles if it's to be taken seriously at all?

Is it worth getting a TV deal if the network tells you who should be champ?

Let's see * no TV = company goes dead* TV = company does not go dead

I'm going with TV. TNA's on a 13 week leash, with the expectation of them hitting a ratings level they've never reached. You gotta pick your battles, and this isn't a good spot for one.

Not that I probably know what I'm talking about, but I gather the problem when JJ was champion before was it was the Jeff Jarrett show. Maybe that won't be the case this time? Maybe they're just setting up a mainstream credible guy to be champ and lose to their new star on the debut show?

While I don't buy the "there's no Jeff Jarrett toys at the Toys R Us so he's GOTTA be champ" line, the story about Spike officals checking into the popularity/fame levels of various TNA wrestlers among wrestling fans can be confirmed by this week's Torch.

Think about this way; their survey (which I'd die to see) rates Nash really high to the point where TNA flew him on the PPV not to work the show, but just to meet the Spike people - Jarrett's at least better than that idea.

This just justfies for me what I was thinking after reading everyone talk in the TNA PPV thread about the great TNA action as an alternative to WWE. And my thought was "I can just buy ROH dvd's and not give any money to people who will eventually put Jeff Jarrett on top again." And lo and behold they did it. Not that Raven was immensely appealing, but Jarrett gets the same reaction from me as HHH or JBL gives me on WWE, a resounding *click*.

Please, all this bickering about Jarrett is ridiculous. The WWE has had the same thing going on for years with Hogan, Triple H, and Taker and nobody has refused to watch WWE, but TNA has a champ people don't like and TNA doesn't even get a chance? That's a load of crap.

The truth is TNA has tons of other stuff going for it. For one the X Division which was actually the main event OVER the World Title at the ppv. They let their wrestlers go all out, they don't have lame storylines, they have a great tag team division. If you're going to not watch TNA because Jarrett is the champ but you are going to watch WWE even with Snitskey, Masters, and Heidenreich getting pushes and dumb gimmicks like Jilian Hall and Corwen White then you're just a complete moron. But you have fun watching Corwen White vs. Shelton Benjamin.

Truth is Jarrett is the most well known guy on TNA, and he is a heel. The best way to debut is with him on top and they best way to do their first "big" ppv is to have the biggest name in the main event and have the face chasing the heel, it all makes sense to me. So I have no problem if Spike wanted him to be world champion. Plus, they DID say they wanted AJ the champ too, didn't they? So they probably would have no problem with AJ getting the World Title either, which is what everyone says they should do. My only gripe over the whole thing is that after the great reign by Raven he loses on a house show.

I like heel AMW, D-Von Dudley was on Between the Ropes last night and it sounds like the Dudleys will almost definitely be in TNA when they are able to, so It's just a matter of time before we see AMW vs. Dudleys.

If Jericho is miraculously debuting, or if they don't trust Raven not to bail out before the show debuts, putting the belt on Jarrett makes some sense. However, why waste a title change on a house show in front of 27 people(hyperbole) when they could move the belt from Raven to Jarrett on the first Spike show, have AMW turn, and possibly provide a buzz to build up the audience for week 2? Or, at worst, move the belt on the PPV this past weekend to help justify to the people spending money on PPV that it is worth buying the PPV's.

Originally posted by redsoxnationIf Jericho is miraculously debuting, or if they don't trust Raven not to bail out before the show debuts, putting the belt on Jarrett makes some sense. However, why waste a title change on a house show in front of 27 people(hyperbole) when they could move the belt from Raven to Jarrett on the first Spike show, have AMW turn, and possibly provide a buzz to build up the audience for week 2? Or, at worst, move the belt on the PPV this past weekend to help justify to the people spending money on PPV that it is worth buying the PPV's.

Because seeing the face champ lose his title to the heel contender and a shocking serve ... God, the idea makes my eyes glaze over. I'm hoping the first show will instead feature Jarrett losing the title to (or being dramatically challenged by) a guy elevated to the main event, like Samoa Joe or Daniels.

Please, all this bickering about Jarrett is ridiculous. The WWE has had the same thing going on for years with Hogan, Triple H, and Taker and nobody has refused to watch WWE, but TNA has a champ people don't like and TNA doesn't even get a chance? That's a load of crap.

The problem is that with an audience of about of twenty times what TNA has right now, WWE can afford to make mistakes given the loyalty of their audience, their name recognition and their history putting on a good show. TNA, on the other hand, has no audience essentially and needs to basically have a hot show with good angles and matches each week or else they'll be DOA when the Spike TV deal expires.

Also, even though people like to bitch about Taker, Hogan and Triple H (myself included), those guys are all legends. Jeff Jarrett is a guy who has had numerous runs at the top of the card for TNA and WCW and never drawn. And as much as WWE is pushing the big stiffs, they didn't put the belt on any of them. TNA gave Jarrett the title so the situations aren't comparable.